


Let them wonder how we got this far

by KeJ



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-18
Updated: 2015-10-18
Packaged: 2018-04-26 21:12:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5020705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeJ/pseuds/KeJ
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt was: Ymir figuring out how the whole "being in love" thing works and the many facets of Krista</p><p>So here's a quite oblivious Ymir trying to sort out her feelings about Krista, from the very beginning. Pre-canon, set somewhere while they're training together in the mountains and before the Daz incident.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let them wonder how we got this far

**Author's Note:**

  * For [221brosiewilde](https://archiveofourown.org/users/221brosiewilde/gifts).



> Thank you so much to my [Sarah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bisexualcyborg) for the very quick and very efficient beta!

The first thing Ymir notices about the girl is the colour of her eyes. She usually doesn't dwell on people's faces; she doesn't need to, and the people she's met so far all blur together into one hostile scowl framed by the thick brown fur everyone's wearing around their training base. But this girl's face is framed by gold locks that fall freely on her shoulders, and the smile she's wearing is anything but hostile. Her eyes are light, almost comically wide, half of her face eaten by blue. _Weird_ , Ymir wants to think. 

"Hi, I'm Krista," the girl says. "I think the higher-ups paired us up together?" 

_Soft,_ is the word that comes instead. 

***

Soft, Krista is in many ways. She never raises her voice, not even when, two weeks after they have met, she catches Ymir stealing Hans' dessert. Her eyes are soft, too, when she offers her own dessert to Ymir instead, and her giggle is almost inaudible when Ymir refuses with indignation, because really, I'm not one of those beggars out on the streets, yeah, I see you always doting on them and giving them all our fucking soup, you know, don't think I don't.

Ymir doesn't like talking to Krista. This is how it always ends: she throws a harsh reply her way and leaves without listening to what might come next. Her softness is unnerving. Ymir is used to scowls, barked orders, unfriendly or scared silence at best. She could deal with plain disinterest, too, but Krista's kindness catches her off guard. It's not like Ymir is anything special to Krista anyway; she has seen her interact with others around the base, she sees her talking to those street rats on a daily basis. Everyone in this mountain village has seen Krista's soft smile - hell, some people even talk about it when she's not around. Ymir doesn't care. She already knows why she's been paired up with the gentlest girl: they didn't want to add the possibility of a fight with her teammate to her usual insubordination. Krista doesn't chase after her when she leaves, doesn't insist on eating together or sharing funny stories before bed. She leaves Ymir in peace, and that should be more than enough.

Ymir still eavesdrops whenever she hears Krista's name in hallway conversations, though, and she's too lucid about herself to pretend that means nothing.

***

"Hey, I'm trying to sleep here. Sneak out and go feed your homeless pets if that makes you feel better about yourself, but at least do it in silence." 

It's been two months now, and Ymir is in a bad mood. Her bed is freezing, they have to leave in four hours for a recon mission and Krista is ruffling around to pack the bread and soup for her beloved street rats in the middle of the night. She can't stand it anymore. Krista whips around at her words, startled; Ymir hasn't bothered to whisper, but Krista's face isn't even disapproving. She's still wearing her usual soft and pained expression, the one that makes Ymir's skin prickle and makes her want to hide, because it almost looks like Krista pities her. But Ymir isn't one for hiding, and attack has always been her best defence. She opens her mouth for another cynical remark, just to make her go away. 

"You don't hear me requesting _silence_ when you're snoring loud enough to shake the walls, do you?" 

Ymir's mouth claps shut, and she stares. Krista's expression hasn't changed that much, but her smile isn't her usual compassionate one. This one bares her teeth, and her eyebrows have gone up in something that Ymir recognizes as _challenge_. It's gone in a flash, and a light blush spreads over Krista's cheeks. She ducks down, grabs her stuff and flees the room without another word, as Ymir has done so many times before. 

_How many of her terrible comebacks did I miss over the last two months ?_

_Soft_ doesn't quite fit anymore: Krista's gaze looked dull when she was wearing her gentle smile, but here, when she grins, the glint in her eyes reminds Ymir of the ocean she used to love in her other life. It's still gentle, it's still her, but it's alive, and it doesn't get under Ymir's skin the way her _softness_ did. She thinks about the waves again. _Intriguing_ , she decides. 

***

She has already observed a lot about Krista. They spend their whole days together, so Ymir has picked up on a fair amount of her little habits – she doesn't peel her apples; the second button of her uniform shirt always pops open and she never bothers to redo it more than once; she really doesn't like getting her nails dirty. But now, Ymir looks with a purpose.

She watches closely for the moments when the softness slips off. She looks for Krista's disgusted grimace when they have to dig into the frozen ground with their hands; she catches the selfish bliss on her face when they get raspberries for dessert. Krista might be generous to a ridiculous level, but Ymir would bet everything she owns that right now, Krista wouldn't hand over those raspberries to a starving kid. Some people around the base call her a goddess, and Ymir wonders why it feels so good to catch glimpses of her humanity.

It's only when Krista hands her a new, sturdy hair tie, two days after she lost her old one in the snow, that Ymir realizes Krista has been watching her too.

***

"I'm not eating that," Ymir grunts out.

"Come on, Ymir," Krista snaps. She takes a deep breath and rubs her temple. "We still have four days of hiking left, and that's all I managed to find, just -"

"I'm not eating fucking roots."

Krista glares at her. Ymir knows she's being unfair, but they walked eight hours today. She deserves to slump against a tree and at least get to complain about their dinner. And Krista's glare is almost as delightful as her grin.

"Aren't there any rabbits out there?" Ymir continues, with a pout that she knows for a fact Krista finds infuriating. "Birds? Anything that resembles meat?"

Krista sighs. "Ymir." 

Ymir is still not used to hearing her name in Krista's mouth that often. They've been talking a lot, by Ymir's standards, but it's still a novelty, especially in that tone. Krista doesn't get exasperated by anyone else, because no one ever talks back to the goddess. Her quietly fuming expression belongs only to Ymir. A smirk tugs at the corner of Ymir's mouth. She doesn't even _like_ meat, but driving Krista up the wall is way too fun .

"Krista," she replies, and she watches Krista's expression transform, a roll of her eyes and that playful grin again, lighting up her face. _Gorgeous_ , Ymir thinks, and that one's new. Her throat feels dry.

"I know you're tired," Krista says, and there's the softness again. She reaches out and takes Ymir's hand. Ymir doesn't flinch, but she doesn't react to her touch. They're both wearing gloves; this really shouldn't feel that intimate. "But that's not an excuse to act like a spoiled brat."

Ymir barks a surprised laugh, and she does squeeze Krista's hand this time. Krista is laughing too, a warm, smug laugh that sounds nothing like her usual shy giggles.

"It's bad taste to laugh at your own jokes," Ymir points out with a wide grin.

"You're terrible," Krista says, "and I'm cold."

Ymir looks up and meets Krista's eyes. Krista flashes her another smile, small, but warm and inviting. Ymir raises her eyebrows and Krista doesn't look down, so Ymir gives Krista's hand a little tug. She falls against Ymir's chest, more a deliberate movement than a result of Ymir's pull.

Krista's frame is small, despite all the warm clothes she's wearing, and Ymir wraps her arms around her with ease. Krista's cold nose is poking the side of her neck, and she should probably complain, but she buries her face in Krista's hair instead. It's soft, as she should have expected, and it still smells faintly of soap from Krista's morning shower. Ymir's heart is pounding in her ears. _Soft, intriguing, gorgeous_ , she repeats in her head. Krista looks up at her. She isn't smiling anymore, but her eyes are still glinting.

"I'm really glad I got to know you, Ymir," she whispers. Her voice is a bit shaky, but she holds Ymir's gaze. "Multiple sides of you." 

Ymir doesn't find words this time, but she meets Krista halfway when she leans in, and her grin tastes as sweet and teasing as it looks.


End file.
